Path to Transcendence

Chapter 79: Balls to the Face

Julius’s classes went very similar to the day before. Physical Training just involved him pushing himself hard, using kinetic energy liberally to make it more difficult on himself. Julius, however, did notice that some of the nobles who were causing trouble the day before had not shown up. They must have thought that they had better things to do instead.

The next two classes he had weren’t that different. Intro to Mana was another lecture on the principles and general usage of mana. There was nothing Professor Stewart talked about that had been that illuminating for Julius.

Tier Advancement was much the same. Julius was already at the peak of Tier 1, so all that was left for him was to advance. Which he was planning to do within the next several days or so. Until then, he wouldn’t be able to make that much progress in the class. Instead, he used the time to practice his aura some more. Professor Youma had noticed Julius doing so, but he didn’t stop him. He actually looked at Julius with a look of approval.

Julius had been wearing the ring that Professor Youma gave him last night for the entire day so far. He was fascinated to see how well it lowered the intensity of his aura even to his own senses. If he didn’t know better, even he would completely fall for it. It was a very generous gift, one that Julius wouldn’t forget.

On the other hand, Applied Combat was more interactive than yesterday. The day before, half of the time had been used as Professor Rowe had done introductions. However, today they got right into training and practical combat exercises.

There were also many more assistants today than yesterday. Professor Rowe had split the class into two main groups. One was for mages and another was for warriors. Julius was placed into the warrior group, alongside the others.

Julius didn’t know if he hadn’t seen him or if he just overlooked him yesterday, but Julius saw the beastkin student in his group as well. There was also the redhead girl from his Physical Training class in there too. The redhead girl didn’t even pay Julius any mind, but he wished he could say the same for the beastkin guy. Just like last night, the guy was staring at Julius with a frightening intensity.

Did I do something to him? Do I know him from somewhere? Julius asked himself.

Julius was pretty confident that he had never seen the guy except for last night at the first-year training facilities.

So why is he looking at me like I just stole his last cookie?

Eventually, the guy stopped staring at Julius and put his attention back on the assistant who was telling them what they were going to be doing. Julius was thankful for that. It wasn’t like the look from the guy was hostile, but it was certainly uncomfortable.

The first thing they were going to be working on in the class was dodging. The assistants would launch projectiles at the group and the student’s task was to avoid them. Julius thought it was a good idea. Dodging can be more complicated than most people unacquainted with fighting would presume. Being able to dodge is a vital skill that would save their life one day.

It takes practice and experience to determine when you should dodge and when you shouldn’t. There are times when dodging is actually more detrimental than taking the hit in the first place.

The projectiles the assistants were throwing were just softened balls of mana. The assistants assured the students that they would not leave more than a bruise. Julius took this opportunity to not use any enhancements and used his pure physical ability to dodge. He believed that he was already pretty good at dodging attacks, but there was always room for improvement.

The projectiles started off slow in the beginning, allowing the students to acclimate to the exercise. Most of the warriors were doing very well, only the other group of mages were the ones who were getting hit.

However, it soon began to increase in speed and he began to see many of the students who weren’t used to this type of training begin to panic slightly. They were still at a speed that they should be able to handle, but if they didn’t use the correct technique then they were punished quickly. Even Julius was a little surprised at how fast the balls of mana were coming in.